this morning on "early today," republican roadblock. nancial regulatory reform stalls in the senate as the gop holds out for significant changes. occupational hazard. a routine call literally blows up in the face of an indiana firefighter. and adorable equine. a newborn horse in new hampshire, thought to be the a newborn horse in new hampshire, thought to be the world's smallest. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, i'm kristen well kerr. today we begin with a good old-fashioned senate battle. republicans as well as one democrat voted yesterday to block efforts to begin debate on

overhauling the nation's financial regulatory system. the gop wants significant changes to a reform bill they say the democrats are trying to rush. for more, nbc's tracy pots joins us live from washington with the latest. good morning, tracie. >> hey there, kristen. good morning, everyone. that one rebellious democrat you talked about really threw a wrench in his party's plan to move forward with financial reform. senator ben nelson said he didn't vote for this because he hasn't seen the bill, and some of the businesses in his home state of nebraska have some problems with it. so do republicans. their biggest issue with this plan to reform wall street is the fact that it contains a $50 billion bailout fund that would be paid for by banks, but still republicans say it would encourage the same type of risky behavior that we saw on wall street, leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. they're also concerned that government would have too much power over wall street. agencies like the federal reserve, the fdic, and even the newly proposed consumer

protection agency to protect consumers with specific financial products. so basically, as a result of last night's vote, they're now back at the negotiating table. democrats and republicans, trying to figure out how to reach their common goal of putting the brakes on wall street so we don't end up in another financial crisis. kristen? >> tracie, thank you. in the gulf of mexico, it's a race against time for cleanup crews trying to contain a giant and spreading oil slick from making landfall in the wake of last week's sunken oil rig. meanwhile, nearly a mile below the water's surface, high-tech robot submarines are trying to seal up the leaking well. you can see the damage on the surface of the gulf of mexico, 50 miles off the louisiana coast. the site of a major oil leak from the sunken drilling rig. crews raced to cut off the flow at the wellhead by using remote controlled sub sea robots. a tricky and critical fix, taking place nearly a mile below the water. the oil rig, controlled by

british oil company bp sank after an explosion last week killed 11 workers. now the leak is spewing 42,000 gallons of oil a day, and the oil slick stretching 600 square miles is creating an environmental crisis. threatening gulf state beaches, and endangering fragile wetlands 30 miles away. >> can they keep it from getting onshore? can they keep it out of those wetlands, off those beaches? >> reporter: the rig accident and environmental threat comes one month after the obama administration announced plans to expand drilling exploration. the white house says it is keeping a close watch on the cleanup. >> that's our first -- that's our foremost priority at this point, is doing all that we can to prevent further leaking. >> reporter: authorities are using boats to skim oil from the surface of the gulf, and crews are also bringing in a new rig to drill a relief well, and seal the leaking well. a permanent fix that could take

weeks, or months, to complete. michelle franzen, nbc news. the uproar over arizona's new law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants intensified yesterday, to the point of vandalism. opponents of the new law used refried beans to smear swastikas on the windows of the state capitol. other protesters at the capitol yesterday demonstrated against the law, which directs state and local police to question anyone whose immigration status they may feel uncertain of. mexico's president felipe calderon weighed in saying the law is discriminatory and could seriously strain trade and political ties between mexico and the state of arizona. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in indiana, news cameras captured a firefighter being knocked to the ground by an explosion which ripped his helmet off. the firefighter was attempting to extinguish flames in a minivan when he was hit by the blast. fortunately his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

in mississippi, four men are lucky to be alive after driving directly into the path of this oncoming tornado. one of the passengers captured the raging winds and rain on his cell phone only moments before the gusts flipped the car 30 yards through the air. thankfully, the guys sustained only minor injuries. amazing. a kentucky man is under arrest after leading police on a dangerous chase which was captured by the police car's dash cam. the suspect injured an officer who was attempting to stop the car before spinning out and crashing into a police cruiser. the suspect is being held on several charges. and in new hampshire, one farm is welcoming its tiniest new resident with big smiles. weighing only 6 pounds at birth, the miniature horse named einstein is believed to be the world's smallest horse. while he may be tiny, his owners say the pint-sized newcomer has a big personality. what a little cutie he is. well now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel

forecast. good morning, bill. he is the smallest horse, and the cutest, i think. >> i never knew. i didn't know they could do that. >> i didn't, either. i don't think he'll be running in the kentucky derby but he sure is fun to look at it. >> i would bet on him. >> there you go. >> the kentucky derby is coming up, by the way. that forecast i'll bring you later on in the week. here's what we dealt with yesterday. not too much severe weather. we had no tornado reports. only a couple hail and wind damage reports and only a couple clusters, a couple storms popped up just south of d.c. over eastern virginia. a few wind reports in florida, and also a couple strong storms just outside of houston. so it was a lot calmer severe weatherwise yesterday. a couple areas of storms and some showers in new england. a little area of rain here over illinois, heading for kentucky, and some isolated storms there over areas of just into louisiana, right on the border there of texas. here's that area of rain. this is probably the worst of it this morning. this isn't that bad. just some steady rain heading for louisville this morning, owensboro, and possibly around lexington, eventually. so the forecast today, a little gloomy in new england.

especially from rhode island and boston northward up into northern new england where they could even see snow. but overall, it's not a bad-looking tuesday. temperatures a little bit on the cool side in chicago. that's a look at your tuesday forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. you notice there's nothing too dramatic during the day today. the next severe weather threat will come into the middle of the country thursday and friday. should be a nice, chilly spring day in areas like cleveland today with a high of only 53 degrees. well, this is going to be a little cool period here tuesday into wednesday, kristen. details coming up. >> sounds good. thanks, bill. health stocks stumble but caterpillar comes up strong. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus the lohans battle in the tabloid over the physical and financial health of their wild child lindsay. the magic break out the broom, the black hawks score an unusual goal and the president takes a shot at the cubs. you're watching "early today."

good morning, welcome back to "early today," i'm kristen welker and here are some of your top headlines this morning. former panamanian dictator manuel noriega is in france this morning, extradited there by the u.s. to face fresh charges of money laundering and potentially ten more years behind bars. the ousted leader was released from a federal prison in miami, where he spent the last 18 years on drug-related charges. signs of progress in the purk to renew mideast peace talks. israeli officials say prime minister benjamin netanyahu has stopped work in planning for hotly contested jewish housing development in disputed east jerusalem. the controversial construction had derailed vice president joe biden's peace efforts in the area nearly two months ago. and the speaker of ukraine's parliament was pelted with eggs and took shelter under an umbrella today as protesters demonstrated against last week's

agreement between ukraine's president and russia's dmitry medvedev to extend the stay of russia's black sea fleet in ukraine's crimea until 2014. later smoke bombs filled the halls with smoke. and now here's an earley look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a study spanning 20 years has found the combined effects of four common bad habits can age you by as much as 12 years. those who smoke, drink, do not exercise, and have a poor diet not only dramatically increase their risk of death, they also age faster. the most common cause of death among the ultimate unhealthies was from heart disease and cancer. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11 can 205 after adding a fraction yesterday. the s&p fell 5 points. the nasdaq lost 7 points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei rose 46 points, but

in hong kong, the hang seng fell 325 points. bank shares fell yesterday, and pulled the markets down along with them on fears financial reform making its way through congress will cut profits. the s&p 500 dipped yesterday, led downward by finance powerhouses jpmorgan, up more than 2%, and bank of america also down more than 2%. only caterpillar kept the dow in positive territory. shares in the heavy machinerymaker rose 4% after caterpillar raised its full-year profit forecast and said economic conditions are definitely improving. and the health care sector took a beating yesterday, led by humana. despite posting a strong earnings report, humana fell over 4% on both profit fears over the recently passed health reform and profit taking. citigroup tumbled 5% after the government said it would begin selling part of the 27% bailout stake it holds in the bank. and whirlpool soared 10%

after the world's largest appliancemaker reported earnings that beat estimates and raised its full-year profit view. in merger news, hertz jumped more than 14% after agreeing to buy dollar thrifty automotive for $1.2 billion. dollar thrifty's stock gained more than 10%. elsewhere, a federal appeals court in san francisco has ruled the nation's largest gender-bias lawsuit can move forward. more than 1 million women who worked for walmart and sam's club seeking back pay for alleged discrimination. today's the day the ceo of goldman sachs and other executives from the wall street powerhouse go before congress. the senate panel they'll be in front of alleges goldman used a strategy that allowed it to profit from the housing meltdown, and reap billions at the expense of clients. and finally, a politician with a popular message yesterday. brazil's health minister announced that the best way to stay healthy is to, quote, walk, dance and have safe sex. well, playoff basketball drama. a very big baseball contract,

and a white sox fan in the white house takes a poke at the cubs. plus, the bruins advance in the chase for lord stanley's cup. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we have two weak storms in the east and a big one on the west coast. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning, if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night the orlando magic sent the charlotte bobcats packing, becoming the first team to advance to the second round of the nba playoffs. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the orlando magic became the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs with a clean sweep of the charlotte bobcats. here we go. things started well for the bobcats. felton drilled a buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter. but in the second half the magic pulled away. nelson put orlando up ten with a long three. magic won 99-90 to eliminate michael jordan's bobcats. nhl playoffs, the bruins completed their opening round upset of the sabres. dennis wideman found satan late in the third to give boston a 4-2 lead. satan, a longtime sabre scored just two goals in the series. bruins advance with a 4-3 win. to chicago the blackhawks and

predators. the two teams combined for seven goals in the first. none stranger than this. brett seabrook dumped the puck into the zone with teammate patrick kane and pulled the predator's goalie. they went on to win 5-3 and knocked the predators out. no matter how good monday was for you, i'm pretty sure ryan howard's day was better. he agreed to a five-year contract extension with the phillies worth $125 million. he's the second highest paid baseball player in history behind the yankees alex rodriguez. the champs visited the white house to meet the president yesterday. they presented hi with a signed number 27 jersey to represent the 27 world series titles. the president, a die-hard white sox fan praised the yankees while taking a cheap shot at chicago's other baseball team. >> it's been nine years since your last title, which must have felt like an eternity for yankees fans. i think other teams would be just fine with a spell like that. the cubs.

for example. >> cubbies haven't won the world series since 1908. that's 102 long years. that's your early look at sports on "early today," i'm fred roggin. >> great moment there. hugh hefner to the rescue? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's a kentucky tradition. but can you try it at home if you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this tuesday morning. nothing too dramatic today, just light rain heading out of illinois, in through kentucky and tennessee. eventually during the day today. we've also got a little bit of gloomy weather once again from boston to hartford, especially northern new england. that's where we'll even mix in a little bit of snow. cold and chilly air tonight is going to settle in over the great lakes and could see a frost and freeze early tomorrow mark here in the great lakes. cooler air moving down from canada. looks like a rather tranquil forecast today and tomorrow. if you're watching us on wthr-13 indianapolis, indiana, witness an explosion of color at the fireworks of glass exhibit and see a 43 foot tall glass tower on display at the children's museum of indianapolis. that's your "early today" event of the day. kristen? >> 43 feet? wow. all right. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. as always seems to be the case with reality tv, it's difficult to tell good from bad.

so on this one you be the judge. a spokesman for pennsylvania's labor department says producers have obtained child labor permits for kate gosselin's kids to appear in a new series of tlc special's "kate plus eight." the lohans are at it again. this time father michael wants daughter lindsay to take certain steps towards sobriety or financial stability or he's threatening to set up a britney spears-like conservator ship. mother deena returned fire accusing dad of having more interest in his daughter's bank account than his daughter. meanwhile a former close friend accuses lindsay and her mother of being in complete denial. lohan was reportedly just fired from her most recent movie role before production on the film could even begin. finally, on the brighter side, playboy founder hugh hefner has donated the last $900,000 needed for land purchases to save the location surrounding the famed hollywood sign from being spoiled by developers. so, bill, it's a hollywood

ending for the hollywood sign. that's what the governor said. i'm actually quoting the governor. >> i don't see a hollywood ending for lindsay lohan any time soon. >> i don't think so, but let's hope so. >> let's do an intervention, you and me. >> there you go, after the show. all right, sounds good. this comes to us from louisville, kentucky, where participants in one local tradition will never be guilty of oversleeping. 44 teams competed in the 21st annual great bed race, part of the week-long kentucky derby festival. bedheads from local companies, charities and social groups competed in categories such as best decorated, and most likely to break down. the event also helped raise awareness for leukemia survivors. pretty impressive there. i'm kristen welker and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station. for a price that starts low

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call the verizon center for customers with disabilities and this is what it looks like outside right now, a lot of lights in the city, 5 a degrees, kind of balmy at this hour, 4:27, almost 4:28, good morning, welcome to "news4 today," i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang, it's tuesday, april 27, 2010. a first chance to pay respects to the late civil rights leader, dorothy height. a public viewing is scheduled for tonight at the national council of negro women, dorothy height building. today virginia governor, boeb mcdonald is expected to

announce that defense contractor, northrop grumman is expected to move across the country. no official site has been named, but company officials will say it will likely be in fairfax county in dulles airport or in crystal city near the pentagon. senate republicans deny democrats the 60 votes to begin debate on financial reform. but senate majority leader, harry reid plans to vote again today. and former kpfs of goldman sachs will testify before a subcommittee. the firm faces s.e.c. fraud charges. and after a fifth arrest police believe they have everyone responsible for the mass shooting in southeast washington. yesterday officers arrested 21-year-old jeffrey best, charged with several counts of murder. on march 30, four people were killed, five injured in a drive-by shooting on south capital street. federal disaster teams